Experts urge use of ISO standards

Experts from both Vietnamese and Japanese certification bodies met and discussed the need for enterprises to obtain certificates of conformity and ISO management systems in order to expand their businesses, at a conference held in the capital yesterday.

The international seminar, entitled “Business Expansion by Conformity Assessment”, was co-organised by Viet Nam’s Quality Assurance and Testing Center No 1 (Quatest 1) and the Japan Quality Assurance Organisation (JQA).

Quatest 1 Deputy Director Dang Tuan Hung encouraged companies to apply technologies and management systems to production processes in order to improve quality and enhance competitiveness on the back of increasing global economic integration.

Hung said that obtaining certificates of conformity would help consumers make better decisions in buying products, assist manufacturers in determining the success of their goods and help State management bodies better inspect product quality.

Viet Nam has more than 6,000 national standards (TCVN), designed to ensure product safety, and four certification bodies, including Quatest 1, 2, 3 and Quacert (the Viet Nam Certification Centre), providing certification services.

Noriaki Kobayashi, senior executive, board director and COO of JQA, stressed the importance of obtaining certificates of conformity and applying ISO management systems to help companies gain customer trust, raise revenues and expand businesses.

According to Kobayashi, many Japanese companies, mostly focused on manufacturing, are currently investing in Viet Nam, with accumulative investment capital reaching US$5.2 billion, far exceeding closest rival Singapore’s $4 billion.

“Over half of production is aimed at exporting, mostly to Japan, necessitating compliance with Japanese standards,” he said.

Kobayashi revealed a plan of establishing an independent mechanism of conformity assessing products manufactured in Viet Nam for export to Japan.

“With such a mechanism present in Viet Nam, local products could be directly distributed to Japan, benefiting both Japanese enterprises and Vietnamese exporters.”

Additionally, experts have introduced calibration and verification of measuring instruments as well as JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) mark certification to businesses.

Vietnamese exporters, particularly of steel and machinery, have been encouraged to apply JIS, but due to the high cost of this process, it will only be applied to high profit products.

JQA, the largest certification body in Japan since establishment in 1957, provides certification services to manufactures of electric home appliances, consumer electronics and transportation equipment. — VNS

Tags: ISO standards